Opening an individual entrepreneur in Georgia

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If you want to open an individual entrepreneur in Georgia, know first that Kvitiko does not register businesses and is not part of the registry. It is for what comes after registration: the monthly returns, the deadlines and the NBG rate. This post is general information with its sources, not advice about your own case. For a decision that costs money, check the current text of each rule and ask the office that applies it.

What registration gives you

An individual entrepreneur is a natural person registered in the Registry of Entrepreneurs. Registration is mandatory for an entrepreneur and entails both state registration and tax registration, and the registry sends the data to the Revenue Service electronically (Law on Entrepreneurs, Article 8(1) and (2)). The entrepreneur exists from the moment of registration, and the decision takes effect when it is published on the registry’s electronic platform (Article 8(6) and (7)). Foreigners may do business in Georgia with the same rights and duties as citizens unless the law says otherwise (Law on the Legal Status of Aliens, Article 28). The exceptions matter, and the main one is below.

The steps

1. Prepare the application. It is written and states your full name, your legal address, your personal identification number (for a foreigner, the details of the identity document you present) and your signature (Article 11(2)).
2. Take an identity document. A citizen of Georgia shows a Georgian identity document. A foreigner shows an identity document of the kind used for identification in notarial acts (Article 11(1)). That is usually a valid passport, but the registry decides what it takes.
3. Apply to the National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR) and pay the fee. Registration costs GEL 26 and is done the next working day, or GEL 75 and is done on the day of filing.
4. Get an extract. Banks and other offices often ask for proof of registration. An extract from the Registry of Entrepreneurs costs GEL 20 on paper (next working day) or GEL 75 (same day), and GEL 13 or GEL 52 when requested electronically. An English-language extract adds GEL 26 to the fee of the service it comes with.

Tax registration comes with the registration, so there is no separate application for it. The NAPR fee page does not say where to apply, so ask NAPR which channels it accepts.

Small business status

After registration you can apply to the tax authority for the small business status, and it grants a certificate (Tax Code, Article 89(1)). The order on special tax regimes, as adopted in 2010, says an entrepreneur who is not yet registered must register first and then apply, and that the certificate follows within 2 working days of the application (Order No. 999, annex 1, article 12). That order has been amended since, so check the current term. The status is for a natural person entrepreneur (Article 88(1)), and the Government can list activities that are excluded (Article 88(2)).

Taxable income of a small business is taxed at 1 percent, and at 3 percent once gross income from your activity for the year passes GEL 500,000 (Article 90(1) and (2)). Article 90(3) says taxable income consists of income from a Georgian-based source, salary excluded. Whether a particular client’s payments count is not something this post decides. The alternative is the micro business status, for a person who uses no hired labour and earns up to GEL 30,000 a year (Article 84(1)). With the status you file a return every month: see how to file the declaration on rs.ge and what rs.ge is.

If you are a foreigner

Registering and earning are two different questions. The Law on Labour Migration says that only an alien who holds a work residence permit, a D1 visa or another permit the law names, together with the right to work, may carry out entrepreneurial activity in Georgia that earns economic benefit (Article 13^1(2)). A self-employed alien there is an alien without a permanent residence permit who trades, provides services or works as a partner or contractor to earn money (Article 3(c^2)). The right to work is given by the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs, a self-employed alien applies for it personally, it names a speciality and a field, and the review period may not exceed 30 calendar days (Articles 13^4(1), (2), (5) and 13^5(7)). You can apply for it only if you stay in Georgia lawfully (Article 13^1(3)). The service fee is capped at GEL 500, and the exact amount is set by the Government (Article 13^4(8) and (9)). Working without the right to work is fined GEL 2,000 for a self-employed alien (Article 16^1(3)).

The rules for this procedure were approved by Government Ordinance No. 70 of 20 February 2026, in force from 1 March 2026, and amended since. Read its current text before you rely on it. The fee is GEL 200 for a decision within 30 days, or GEL 400 for 10 working days. Registration and the right to earn are separate steps, and this post does not decide how they fit together in your case.

After you register

With the small business status, a return is due every month, including a month with no income. Kvitiko prepares it from the payments you record, at the National Bank rate of each payment’s date, reminds you before the 15th and waits for your approval. It also handles waybills, invoices, certificates and notices in your rs.ge account.

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